/
/

Site Navigation

Your Account

Choose Language

Discussion Topic

Options

Does posting "+1" comment defeat the purpose of the feedback system?

Hi! This is sort of a nitpicky issue, and I hope I don't offend anyone, but I've always thought that when people post "+" or "+1" as a comment, it somewhat defeats the purpose of the feedback system by clouding the issue of an upvote with the additional knowledge of who has given you that vote. Knowing that user X has been voting up my posts might, for example, cause me to be sympathetic to user X's own posts, and feel compelled to vote them up as a response. I believe the feedback system should truly be about promoting/demoting the answers based on strengths/weaknesses, and knowledge of someone's voting record simply turns it into a system of patting each other on the back. In addition, there are a lot of posts on the site which deserve to be downvoted, but, again, knowledge of who has voted something down commonly turns the conversation into an argument, which obviously is counterproductive.

Again, it's a potentially nitpicky issue and not necessarily critical, but I'm curious to hear what everyone things about it.

John

Reply to discussion Subscribe to discussion

Is this a worthwhile discussion?

Yes No
Score 5
2 Comments

Thanks Rab! Let me know which one of your posts you want a +1 on. :-)

by

Add a comment

5 Replies

Filter by:
Most Helpful Newest Oldest
Most Helpful Answer

Options

I think it's important to lend credibility- for example if someone with a high number of points votes and shows approval, that will lend an air of legitimacy to the answer.

Was this reply helpful?

Yes No
Score 4

3 Comments:

Less wordy than me but I think we agree. +

by

agreed, it provides feedback to the new people who want to be involved in the site. the rest of you know who has how many points etc

by

I agree that it can potentially add specific credibility from an individual, but I think the system overall is credible if it's left to do its thing. Sure there may be one moron here or there spam voting but I think at the end of the day the system on its own is somewhat auto-correcting and a solid one that does not need this additional input. I have let be known what my vote was on certain occasions, but only when the topic at hand was voting itself and my vote was relevant to the conversation. The danger here is that everyone commenting "+1" skews the situation to the point where someone not voting up, or voting negative, is obvious and in effect called out by default, and that undermines the integrity of the system as a whole.

by

Add a comment

Options

I'm not sure there is a good answer to this question John. There is a certain truth in your concerns about reciprocity but allow me to comment on the flip side of the question. Mind you I can only speak for myself as to my actions but I try to give upticks to people who's answers I've learned to trust and if I agree with the answer given. I do this to encourage them to continue the good work. If I have reservations about an answer I do not post a + for that answer. I will add additional information in the comments if I think it will help the OP. Having said this would the uptick be more encouraging coming from someone who has been recognized for good answers or would there be no difference? Should we avoid leaving a + if we comment to prevent clouding of the issue? I would expect that over the next several days we will get a sense of how the community feels about it. An interesting question that will surely promote conversation which leads me to (sorry about this) leave you an uptick. Ralph

Was this reply helpful?

Yes No
Score 2

1 Comment:

Personally I vote up if I've learned something or I think an answer is strong, and I comment if I have something to say, but I see those events as two different things, i.e. there are cases where I vote something up but not comment, and others I'll comment but not vote up. I don't see the two as connected at the hip.

by

Add a comment

Options

It never bothered me. I think getting a "+" from specific users really punctuates the correctness. If someone w/ high rep gives me a "+" comment I'm going to get a better feeling than just a up-vote. I think it can add value and I really don't think it subtracts much.

However, if it becomes a trend and 100 people are putting +'s on things instead of voting it's going to get out of hand. That is the problem we are really trying to avoid. By starting this standard of using "+" comments we are going to potentially have long list of "comments" which are just "+"'s which are really just pseudo up-votes. I can't say if that is bad or not.

Was this reply helpful?

Yes No
Score 3

1 Comment:

I would say to this that a comment can be far more rewarding than a vote, and by "comment" I mean a detailed comment, and not a "+1" comment. Personally I would encourage people to keep the two things separate, i.e. vote up if you feel like it, and comment if you feel like it. If someone leaves an encouraging or complimentary comment, it's pretty obvious that this person likely voted up as well. I just don't see the need to specifically point out the connection between the two by commenting "+1". A certain amount of anonymity lends credibility to the site.

by

Add a comment

Options

My statement can be found here.

But because I found '+' comments useless, I implemented the 12 character minimum on comments. I'm pretty stern about this limit, and I have yet to hear a valid use for single character comments. Obviously there are some bugs in the minimum length code, but that will get fixed at some point.

Was this reply helpful?

Yes No
Score 2

1 Comment:

I agree, if you have something to add, it's going to take more than 12 characters. Comments should be reserved for when people have something substantial to add.

by

Add a comment

Options

i just received a down vote. Nobody has left a comment, or a name. if it's a new user putting a down vote then is my answer incorrect/misguided/absolute rubbish? if someone with more rep had down voted me, or at least put a reason then i get feedback. can we be allowed to see who up or down votes our replies (and have their rep visible) or...you can only +/- if you put a comment to back it up. the benefit isn't just to the writer of answers but gives credibility for people looking for solutions.

Was this reply helpful?

Yes No
Score 3

3 Comments:

That situation can be frustrating, but one down vote, in the overall picture, is really fairly insignificant, and the system will correct it if necessary. For example, if your post is amazing, and it helps 10 people fix their computers, then those people will reward you with positive votes -- you might even get your answer chosen as THE answer -- and the negative will be a distant memory. But if you get, say, another down vote, then perhaps that's saying something as well. I think all of the bumps are smoothed out when you look at the big picture.

by

I agree that anonymity makes the system equal to all, but few people chose to up or down vote, let alone comment which is why I suggested seeing who has voted. Afterall there are loads of white screen questions with 1+! Maybe we all need to make a more concerted effort to do vote or comment and advertise this to new users that are searching answers or posing questions.

by

Also, you need 100 rep to downvote anyone. So if you're getting downvoted, it's not a new user (Except on meta, but this place is crazy :p). I totally agree that all downvotes should have a comment left as well, but we don't really want to enforce that.

by

Add a comment

Join the discussion

rdklinc will be eternally grateful.